Liners for vehicle cargo beds are known in the art. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,693,507 to Dresen et al. suggests a cargo bed liner for a pickup truck which is vacuum formed of unitary plastic. An elastomer material having an effectively high coefficient of friction is co-formed with and integrally adhered to the plastic forming the liner to purportedly provide an anti-slip surface for restraining movement of cargo on the top surface of the liner.
Another bed liner is discussed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,636,883 in the form of a liner for a front and side walls of a pickup truck bed, wherein a portion of the liner is purportedly reversible to allow a choice between which surface will contact the pickup truck bed. The liner comprises an outer panel removably attached to an inner panel along a common edge using hook and loop material. The inner panel is made of two pieces of material, one being soft, such as felt or artificial fleece, and the other being tougher and more durable. Having two different surfaces purportedly allows the user of the device to select which surface will contact the inner wall of the truck bed and which surface will contact a load located in the cargo bed, with the softer first side normally expected to contact the inner wall of the truck bed to prevent damage to the truck's paint.
While these and other prior cargo bed liners may have been suitable for their intended purpose, it has been found that some prior cargo bed liners can prematurely wear or otherwise remove paint from a truck cargo bed during use. Accordingly, there exists a continuing need to provide cargo bed liners having wear inhibiting characteristics, such as a surface applied thereto, which can prevent damage to the cargo bed's paint during use. More particularly, there is a continuing need to provide cargo bed liners having a wear inhibiting surface or portions of a surface applied thereto which can prevent abrasive wear of the cargo bed's paint during use. In addition, there is a continuing need to provide such wear inhibiting characteristics in a form which can be easily manufactured with the cargo bed liner. The present invention provides structures which can accommodate these benefits.